Commentary | KRIS VAN RIPER AND
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KRIS VAN RIPER is a managing
director and BENJAMIN KNOPF is a
senior analyst at CEB.
In the past year, IT executive tran-
sitions in the public sector have
occurred at a particularly rapid rate.
In the 15 Cabinet departments, six
CIOs or acting CIOs have been on
the job for less than a year, and that
pattern is similar among indepen-
dent agencies.
Leadership transitions are a high-
risk time in the life of every execu-
tive. CEB analyzed data from more
than 2,200 matched pairs of transi-
tioning leaders and their managers
from the public and private sectors
to uncover how well transitioning
leaders performed during a change.
The results showed signi cant
cause for concern. The good news
is that only a small proportion ---
2.5 percent --- of transitions fail
spectacularly. The bad news is that
it s not just the high-pro le ame-
outs that are a problem. An alarm-
ing 46 percent of all transitioning
leaders underperform during their
transitions. They survive but don t
thrive, and they reach full produc-
tivity an average of nine months
later than their higher-performing
peers.
Furthermore, for those less-
successful transitions, the ripple
effect from the leader s underperfor-
mance creates signi cant risk and
cost for the organization, with dam-
age that includes lagging employee
productivity, disengagement, attri-
tion and lost business opportunities.
Government IT executives face
additional challenges. Acute scal
pressures and shrinking budgets
mean new leaders must quickly
deliver cost-ef ciency improve-
ments through consolidation and
transitions to shared services. At
the same time, IT must deliver
improved speed and responsive-
ness to business partners who view
technology as a critical enabler of
mission agendas.
Given the current environment,
ensuring successful leadership tran-
sitions is more important than ever.
What should transitioning leaders
and their agencies concentrate on
to drive successful performance
from the start?
• Provide long-term support.
The organizations with the most
successful leadership transitions
deliver support across an extended
period, not just during the rst 100
days of a new executive s tenure.
• Engage stakeholders. Because
IT is increasingly becoming a strate-
gic advisory function, new execu-
tives should quickly be able to
answer questions such as: "Who are
my key stakeholders, and what are
their perceptions of IT s effective-
ness?" Building relationships and
identifying the expectations of the
senior executive team are crucial,
but successful transitions also
require active participation from
managers, business partners and
direct reports.
• Take a strategic view. Progres-
sive organizations develop a stra-
tegic enterprise view of IT to help
ensure informed decisions. The
new PortfolioStat guidelines require
updates to agencies Information
Resources Management Strate-
gic Plans, which underscores the
need for IT executives to link goals
to mission strategy, ensure they
stay relevant, make assumptions
clear and re-evaluate strategies as
assumptions change.
• Measure performance. Institut-
ing IT performance measurement
can drive fact-based decision-
making, provide resource allocation
insight, and serve as a tool to com-
municate and deliver continuous
improvement in IT.
• Plan for workforce changes.
Rather than planning to address
attrition, IT leaders should prepare
for the emergence of new, criti-
cal IT-related roles across the next
several years. Developing a multi-
year outlook for the workforce will
provide clearer direction on how to
identify and address skills gaps.
By focusing on these key priori-
ties, new IT leaders are more likely
to perform solidly in their roles,
support their business partners
and teams, and contribute to the
achievement of mission objectives
for their agencies. ■
Keeping IT leadership transitions on track
When the performance of new IT leaders ags, the whole organization suffers.
Here are some tips for successful transitions.
An alarming 46
percent of all
transitioning leaders
underperform during
their transitions.
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June 15, 2013 FCW.COM
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